Arresting hook



'NOV.16,1948. Q RWE -2,454,257

ARRESTING HOOK F-iled Oct. 4,1934 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR. DONALD C. ROWE.

NOV. 16, 1948. c, ROWE 2,454,257

ARRESTING HOOK Filed Oct. 4, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOI. DONALD C.ROV-IE.

fatented Nov. 16, 1943 UNIT ED STATES QFlF .ARBESTmG HOOK. Donald C. .iRowe, Kenmore, N. Y., assignor, by

.mesne assignments, to iGurtisseWlrigh-t i691?- po a ion a em g a o Delawa e '1 This invention relates to aircraft, and is particularly, concerned with improvements in landing mechanisms therefor.

Certain types of aircraft are designed for the purpose of taking-off iromandlandin'g on limited landing areas-athis is true particularly of aircraft operating .from the decks of ships commonly known as aircraft carriers. this character are equipped with an arresting gear generally comprising a rod or the like, provided at its lower end with a hook, the rod and hook being connected with the aircraft -so that when preparing to land, the hook may be lowered below the aircraftbody. Upon-approaching the landing surface, the hook scrapes along the surface and engages suitable transverse ropes or the like, by which the movement of :the plane is-quickly arrested.

An object of this invention is to improve the construction of the aircraft arresting gear so-that said arresting gear will :not .bounce when it hits the landing surface.

A further object is to soconstruct an aircraft arresting gear that regardless of the speed or attitude in which the aircraft is landed, the-arresting hook will continue to engage the landing surface to insure engagement of thghook with one of the above mentioned transverse ropes.

A further object is to provide an articulated aircraft arresting gear provided with shock ab.- sorbing mechanism and resilient .means, the tor.- mer tending to prevent bouncing of the arresting gear and the latter tending to hold the sarresting gear in its proper attitude :for landing.

Further obj ects. will be apparent as the specification proceeds, andfor a. clearerunderstanding, reference maybe made to thedrawings, inzw hich similar numbers indicate similar ,parts, :and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of anaircraftlequipped with the arresting gear of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevationiof an aircraft in :the landing attitude, showing .the arresting ,gear .of this invention in contact with a ,landingsurface;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the arresting gear per se;

Fig. 4 is a perspective view of a portion of the arresting gear;

Fig. 5 is an axial section through :the upper portion of the arresting gear;

Fig. 6 is a section on theline 6-5 .yof Fig. '5;

Fig. '7 is a side elevation, partly broken away, showing a portion of the-arresting gear; ,and

Fig. 8 isa viewsimilar ztoqFig. ,7, showing .a portion of the-arrestinggear ina deformedstate.

Aircraft of In Figs. 1 and 2 an-aircraft fuselage 40 having 'a or-ward landing gear H and a tail wheel 42 is provided with an arresting jgear --l3 hinged at its upper end l l to abortion of theai rcra-tt. -Fig. :1 shows the arresting gear 1 3 applied rearward of the tail wheel, cable means 15 being provided to retract thegear 'l--3 wholly within the tail portion or the fuselage. In Fig, 2, the gear $3 is "hinged intermediate the fuselage adjacent its lower surface, :cable means il 6 being provided to move the gear H 3 between a retracted posi tion adjacent the lower fuselage surface and an extended position below the fuselage.

The mechanism of thegear l 3'is more 'partic- =ular1'y :shown in -Figsl :4 to 8, the gear comprising a cable it! of a type which is resistant to twisting. Such cables are well known in the 'artiand usually comprise alternate ilayersaof wire wound :in opposi'te directions. This cable 4-] is rigidly mounted in a socket t8 by well :known means, the socket being provided with a threaded shank ii 9 held by a nut 20 within a yoke :2 the :yoke 2.1 being provided with aligned openings :22 adapted to receive a lmountingabolt 23 passing through a lfitting 241 fixed to the aircraft. "The :lower endof the .cable IT has rigidly attached thereto a hook 215 organized .to engage cables on the landing surface. Toresiliently hold-thezca'ble 5' 1 iinrastraight line attitude, a plurality .=of split zballs :26 are spaced along :the :e'able, these-balls having a circumierential shoulder =21, and having .-di-ametrically .opposed :lugs .28 extending from the .shoulders in .an axial direction. Elihe sides of athese shoulders are itapere'd as :at 29. .A plurality .of tubularsleeves .130 are aslippediover :the cable prior toits amounting to the aircraft, .the ends .of these sleevesibein'gprovided with;diametrically opposed notches 3|, adapted to :engage over the lugs ;28 of the :balls :26. -The.ends. of the sleeves '30 are normal @to the sleeve axes, and are arranged :to normally abut againstopposite sides. of the shoulders 21, as at 32. The uppermost sleeve :30, shown in Fig. 5, rigidly carries a fitting 33 having a bore "314 .and '9. 513331 of cylinders :35 :formed therein. A heavy spring '36 ,rests .within-thebore 34, abutting ,at its ends against .the fitting 7'33 and against 517118 yoke .2 I (respectively. :By screw.- ing up 1onfthe nut .20, athe .cable is pulled toward the iyokeflal pressingtheseveral sleeves-against the several shoulders 22-], to hold the assembly in a straight line attitude. If, howevergtheihool: 25 sharply strikes .a slanding surface, the sleeves are moved out-of dine with .respect to ea'chloth'er', one point ,on itheendof reach .sleeveserving as .an instantaneousicenter, on which the sleeve-may earticulate, the balance of the end portion of each sleeve moving away from the shoulder 21 with which it is normally in engagement. Such articulation of the sleeves obviously tends to compress the spring 36, said spring constantly urging all of the sleeves toward full abutment with the shoulders 21 to hold the gear in a straight line attitude. The balls 26 serve to hold the sleeves concentric with the cable, and the lugs 28 and notches 3| tend to prevent the sleeves and the cable from twisting. It Will be noted that the tapered conformation of the lugs 28 and the.

notches 3| permit of relative movement of the sleeves with respect to the balls.

A non-reactive dampin device is provided for the spring 36 in the form of plungers 31 carried by the yoke 2i, having pistons 38 slidably engaging the cylinders formed in the fitting 33. The plungers 31 are sealed by means of a plug 39 engaging the cylinder ends, and the pistons 33 are further provided with orifices 40 through which fluid may pass upon relative movement of the fit ting 33 and the yoke 2|.

In operation, the aircraft may approach the landing surface, as in Fig. 2, the gear l3 having previously been lowered to the landin position. As the hook strikes the landing surface, the shock of striking causes the sleeves 30 to articulate, bending the gear is out of the aligned position shown in Figs. 1 or 3. This bending of the gear causes compression of the spring 3%, and if the shock of striking of the hook 25 is suflicient, would cause the hook 25 to bounce off the landing surface. The dashpots formed by the pistons 38 and the cylinders 35, however, prevent fast movement of the sprin 36, and damp any bouncing tendency which might be present. Thereby, the spring 36 resiliently holds the hook 25 in engagement with the landing surface. Should any slight bouncing occur, the'spring 36 immediately tends to urge the hook 25 toward contact with the landing surface, and the ,dashpots above mentioned tend to prevent a repetition of violent striking of the hook whereby, upon a possible second contact of the hook with the landing surface, no further bouncing can occur.

As the process of landing proceeds, the arresting gear l3 may either pivot about the bolt 23,.or the gear l3 may articulate as the landing gear I I and I2 may contact with the landing surface. Thereafter, the transverse rope which has been engaged by the hook 25 is released, and the arresting gear I3 is retracted by means of the cable organizations 15 or I 6 shown in Figs 1 and 2.

While I have described my invention in detail in its present preferred embodiment, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, after understanding my invention, that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. I aim in the appended claims to cover all such modifications and changes.

What is claimed is:

1. An arresting gear for aircraft comprising a tension element attached at one end to said aircraft and having a hook at its other end, articulated means encasing said element, and resilient means connecting said articulated means with said aircraft for normally urging said tension element and articulated means toward a predetermined attitude.

2. An arresting gear for aircraft comprising a flexible tension element having an arresting hook, and articulated means embracing said element and a resilient device for normally holding said 4 element and means in a predetermined attitude.

3. An arresting gear for aircraft comprising a tension element flexible throughout its length organized to normally assume a straight line attitude and capable of being curvably deformed in a vertical plane only, means secured to said element for tensioning same, and means secured to said element for damping the movement of said element between straight line and curved attitudes.

4. A non-bouncing arresting gear for aircraft comprising a flexible non-twisting element carrying a hook, a plurality of sleeves arranged end. to end over said element, abutments carried by said element against each of which adjacent sleeve ends are adapted to abut, and resilient means urging said sleeves toward contact with said abutments for normally holding said sleeves and element in straight alignment, and a nonreactive dashpot for damping the movement of said resilient means when said sleeves and element are unaligned.

5. In an arresting gear for aircraft, a nontwisting cable fixed to said aircraft and carrying a hook at its outer end, a plurality of circumferentially shouldered split balls spaced along and encircling said cable, a plurality of rigid sleeves encircling said cable and hearing at their ends on said shoulders, and resilient means acting on one said sleeve for urging said sleeves and split balls toward said hook.

6. An arresting gear for aicrcraft comprising a yoke carried by said aircraft, a flexible cable extending therefrom, a member embracing said cable and translatable relative thereto, resilient means acting between said yoke and member for urging said member away from said yoke, a ground contact element at the remote end of said cable, and a plurality of sleeves in end-to-end abutment embracing said cables, the end sleeves abutting respectively against said member and said ground contact element.

'7. An arresting gear for aircraft comprising a yoke carried by said aircraft, a flexible cable extending therefrom, a member embracing said cable and translatable relative thereto, resilient means acting between said yoke and member for urging said member away from said yoke, a ground contact element at the remote end of said cable, a plurality of sleeves in end-to-end abutment embracing said cables, the end sleeves abutting respectively against said member and said ground contact element, and dashpot means for non-reactively damping movement between said cable-embracing member and said yoke.

8. An arresting gear for aircraft comprising a flexible cable attached to said aircraft carrying a hook at its outer end, a plurality of sleeves encircling said cable in end-to-end abutment with each other, the outer end sleeve abutting against said hooks, and a reactive shock absorber between the inner end sleeve and the aircraft urging said sleeves toward firm abutment against each other for normally maintaining said cable in a straight line attitude.

9. In an arresting gear for aircraft, a member flexible throughout its length depending from the aircraft and having a hooked element carried thereby for engagement with the landing surface, whereby bouncing tendencies of the gear are reduced due to deformation within the length of said flexible member, and means coextensive with said flexible member organized to hold the flex-' able member resiliently in a straight line attitude.

10. In arresting gear for aircraft, a flexible member having a hook rigidly connected to one end and having means at its other end for canmention to said aircraft, and means operatively connected to said flexible member for damping bouncing movements of said hook, said damping means being operative in response to bending of said flexible member.

11. In arresting gear for aircraft, a multi-part flexible member having a hook rigidly connected to one end and havin means at its other end for connection to said aircraft, said flexible member comprising a plurality of parts disposed in end-to-end relation, and a spring operatively connected to said member for urging said. parts to a predetermined attitude relative to each other.

DONALD C. ROWE.

6 REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

